Offset counting device



April 99, 1935.. s, HALVQRSEN 1,999,292

OFFSET COUNTING DEVICE Filed July lla,v 1929 5 sheets-sheet 1 pril B,M93. s. HALvoRsEN y l,999292 OFFSET COUNTING DEVICE Filed July 18, 1929l '5 sheets-sheet 2 @file/75071' 1 AWM mi; 13- v s. HALVRSEN 1,999,22.

OFFSET COUNT ING DEVICE Filed July 18. i929 3 Sheets-Shee'fI 3 v www..

Patented Apr. 30, 1935` PATENT ortica y OFFSET COUNTING DEVICE SeverinHalvorsen, Chicago, lll., assigner to The Newspaper Stuiiing MachineCompany, Seattle, Wash., a corporation of Washington Application-July18, 1929,.Serial No. 379,139

15v Claims.

This invention relates to a counting device as used more particularly inconnection with newspaper stuiing machines, magazine cover binders andysuch like articles, Where one article out of a certain predeterminednumber may be oiiset from a pile delivered toa piling or stacking deviceat the end of a sturing machine; the purpose of so offsetting the one isfor automatically and visually indicating the arrival of the propernumber of articles to the pile at the delivery or stacking end of themachine.

One of the objects of the invention is to produce a device of thischaracter which will be reliable in its operation. l Another object ofVthe invention is to produce a device of this character which will notdamage the articles so acted upon.

Another object Aoi the invention is to produce a device of thischaracter which will be interconnected with the mechanism of thedelivery device of' the machine, and operated thereby, but controlled bythe actual presence or arrival of an article to be counted.

Another object of the invention is to produce a device of this characterwhich will be capable ci accurately counting articles `of Variousthicknesses Without making any changes or adjustments to any part orparts. of the counting device.

in the drawings: v e,

Figure 1 is a side View of the end of a machine equipped with thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a detail View of the counting associated devices.

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 with the parts shown in a changedposition.

Fig. e is a detail 'View of aratchet tooth vvvheel with its associatedpav/l. Y

Fig. 5 is an end view of the parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. f,

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5 but with the parts in changedposition.

Fig.'7 is a detail View of the offsetting mechanism.

and

Fig. 8 vis a plan view oi thel parts shown inV is in theY path of a cam3G mountedl on a rotating ing machine, having the v usual; nal transferplatform A onto which the papers are conveyed and from Which they arepropelled (by means not shown) to Vthe receiving and stacking devicehere shown. 5v

The side frames i--l support` the various mechanisms including the shaft2 which is journalied in these frame members, and has the Ysprocket 3keyed thereto. A chainY #l drives the sprocket 3 and is to be understoodasconnected to any i() moving shaft of a stufngv machine (not shown).

It may be understood that at'each rotation of the shaft 2 va paper" unitis delivered to the platform A, thence tothe stacking'table Where theunits are stacked, and Vat certain predeter- 15 mined intervals a unitis offset from the boundary line o thestack to mark or indicate theaccumuiation of a predetermined number, which in this case and forpurposes of illustration is twenty-live papers, that is the twenty-fifthpa- 20 per unit being oiiset or protruded from the general line of theother units in the stack and so facilitating the counting of the totalmachine output, and also enablingY the operator to take from themachine'a bundle containing a certain known number of units each time.

In my copending application, Serial No. 370,- 244, I show in detail someof the mechanisms for stacking the paper units; for instance, theverticallymoving table I li Vwhich is actuated by the rock-shaft Ilthrough the arms l2, the connecting links I3 and the lever iii which ismounted for rocking the shaitll by the cam i5 on theV shaft 2; also therock-shafts It--lli which carry the arms I'i-l'i forfrretracting thesupporting members it-IB which allow each incoming paper 'unit tobeadded tothe bottom Voi the paper stack Which is here indicated at le inFig. 5.

VThe parts which are the subject of the present invention are thosewhich offset the twenty-fifth paper unitA as previously stated, andinclude the Wings 3l) and 3l and their mountings which are disk 3l.YUpon each revolution of the disk 3l the cam 35 encounters the tappet 35and causes the Wings 3U and 3| to move from the position shown in. Fig.8 to theV position shovvn in Fig. 9. This movement of the Wings causesthe paper unitA B 55 then resting on the table IG to shift from thelocation indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8 to the position shown inFig. 9.

The disk 31 is mounted on and rotated by a shaft 45 journalled in abearing box 45a; the means for rotating the shaft and thereby the disk31 consists of a connecting rod 4B having one end mounted by means of awrist pin 4 l, which is adjustably secured in a slotted crank device 42keyed to theY shaft 2. v The other end of the rod 45 is pivoted at 43 toa lever 44; this lever is loosely mounted on the shaft 45 and isoscillated by the movement of the member 42. Rigidly secured to thisshaft 45 is a ratchet-tooth wheel 46 (which has in this casejtwenty-five teeth); the lever 44 carries a pawl or ratchet 44arranged toengage the teeth to rotate the shaft 45 to the extent of one tooth ateach revolution ofthe shaft 2.

Thus it will be seen that at every revolution of the Y'shaft'Z which isso related to the stuffing machine devices (not shown) that a papierunit will be added toY the stack and that the shaft 45 throughVthe'medium of the ratchet and pawl will cause the cam 36 to operate thewings 3B and 3l at every twenty-'fifth revolution of the shaft 2.

It is conceivable that the mechanism that delivers the paper units tothe stacking device might not be loaded to full capacity and not carry aunit as expected, notwithstanding that the ratchetwheel would beadvanced one tooth at every'revolution of the operating shaft 2, and inthe absenee'of provisions to the contrary the counting device wouldthus'be thrown out of time; so to insure that the vpawl 441L will notdrive the Wheel 46 unless a paper unit is present, there is provided thetracker Wheel 5G (see Figs. 2 and 3) in the path'cf the units and ismounted at one end of a short lever arm 5I which is keyed to a rockshaft 52 which carries the arm 53, having the link 54 pivoted at theupper end thereof at 55, and the lower end pivoted at 56, to a bellcrank lever 51 mounted on the side frame at 5S.

This bell-crank lever 51 has an extension 59 v which overlies theextension 44u of the pawl 44a. A paper unit,V in passing over theplatform A will raise the tracker roll 56 and` thereby operate theymembers v53, 54 and 51 so that the extension 59 of the bell crank 51will not interfere with the operation of the pawl 44a so'that the wheel4S may be rotated thereby; but when no unit is present under the roller50, the extension 59 will Contact the extension 44b of the pawl 44a andit will swing the pawl about itsfulcrum V44c out of possible engagementWith the teeth of the wheel 46 and the shaft 45 will remain dormant eventhough the shaft 2 continues to rotate and the parts will remain in thatposition until another paper unit arrives and restores the pawl so thatit may operate the Wheel 46. lWhen the twentyfifth paper is t0 be actedupon, it is desirable to increase the rotative travel of the Wheel 45,and this is accomplished by mounting a second wheel 46a alongside of theratchet wheel and supplying a secondary pawl 44U1 which is attached tothe pawl 44a.

It will be noted that the peripheral travel of the pawl 44a isconsiderably in excess of the pitch of the teeth on the Wheel 46, andthis overtravel is utilized by so locating a notch 46f inthe' secondwheel 46a that the pawl 44d will engage it when it arrives andwill leavethe wheel 46 in such position that the pawl 44ia in its extreme idlingtravel will drop into a tooth that will cause a rotative travel equal toapproximately one and one-half teeth, thus prolonging the contactbetween the tappet 35 and the cam 36, thereby insuring a full travel andthe'proper functioning of the Wings 36 and 3! during the travel of themember 44. By allowing pawl 44a to fall into notch 46f to rotate 4tiL itcan rthus be easily seen that a further distance of rotation is securedthan is possible withpawl 441L and ratchet 44. It may further beexplained that the wing 30 is soshaped and positioned that the point 35econtacts the paper unit V,for shifting it in the manner described, andthat the part 3|d of the wing 3| acts as a limit guide for the paper soshifted. The vertical extent of these wings is calculated to be sucientto allow them to fully shift the paper unit while the table -l istravelling upward, a distance equal to their vertical height.

After any oneV of the papers has passed the tracker roller 5B and beforethe next succeeding one has arrived, the lever 53 in the absence ofprovisionsto the contrary would be free to drop and cause the pawl 44ato become disengaged from the'wheel 46 and the shaft V45 would thenstop, with the result that in the event the cam 35 is in a position toengage the Wing controlling tappetv 35 the wings 30 and 3| would'nottravel far enough .to fully offset the paper on the table l5 or completethe movement of the operated parts. To guard against this, and insuresufficient movement and complete travelof the lever 4S provision is madeto hold'the lever 53 in a raised position; this is accomplished byproviding a Ycam 1D which is mounted on and operated by the shaft 2arranged to contact a roller 1| on the lever 12. This lever is fulcrumedat 13 to the frame l and acts to operate a wedge 14 at the upper end ofa lever arm 15 fulcrumed at 15 to the main frame l. 'A retracting spring11 is attached at 18 to the lever 15 and a stop 15J on the frame arreststhe action thereof. The spring 12X retracts the lever 12. f

Upon each revolution of the shaft 2 the cam 1B contacts the roller 1l onthe arm 12, and thrusts the wedge 14 between the arm 53 and anadjustable stop 53f mounted in a bracket 53h, the bracket being securedto the main frame I.

While the roller 1l dwells on the face of the cam 1Q, the wedge 14 willremain in the position to maintain the pawl 44a in driving relation Withthe wheel 46.

It will be understood that the camj 10 on the shaft 2 operates the lever12 at every revolution thereof, and thereby tends to 'thrust the wedge14 in the position above described (see Fig. 10) whether a .paper is tobe counted or not, andif no paper has passed the tracker roller 5D, itis of Course not desirable that the wheel 46 beV advanced, andunderthese circumstances the arm 53 will not have been raised; the wedge 14then will encounter astop notch 53e which will limit the movementthereof; toprovide for: this, the lever 15 which carries the wedge' 14is yieldingly actuated bya spring 12a, so that vwhen the parts are inthe position indicated in` Fig. 11 with Ythe wedge 14 against the stopnotch 53e, no harm will result totherparts. f Y

The member 53f is made adjustable as shown, to insure the properpositioningof the lever arm 53; the member 15 is made of relativelylight and ductile material to permit of its being readily formed tooperate as indicated.

Toy accommodate for different thicknesses of paper units, the trackerroller 50l is adjustably mounted on the shaft 52, by means of a setscrew 5|finthehub ofthearm 5|.

The paWl 46g is mounted in a bracket 46h on the frame I, and is arrangedto engage the teeth in the Wheel 46 to insure its rotating in the properdirection.

It will be understood that changes and modifications may be madeWithout'departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a stackingtable having vertical movement, of means for offsetting units to becounted, said means mounted adjacent said table and arranged to operateduring the'vertical travel of the said stacking table.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a stackingtable with offsetting means mounted on the sides thereof for countingthe stacked paper units, and means for prolonging the operating periodof the offsetting means.

3.' In a device of the character described, the combination of astacking table with counting and offsetting mechanism, the countingdevice advancing step by step, in equal increments, until the offsettingcount is reached, and means for increasing that step for prolonging theoperative period ofthe offsetting mechanism. s

4. In a device of the character described, counting and offsettingmeans, a ratchet VWheel for operating said means, said Wheel arranged torotate evenly for each unitv to be counted, and means for increasing therotative travel of the said Wheel at the instant of the operation of theoffsetting means.

5. In a device of the character described, counting and offsettingmeans, means for rendering the counting means operative, said meansincluding a tracker roller in the path of the units and operatedthereby, and supplemental means for maintaining the counting means inoperative positi-on, after the tracker roller ceases to control the saidcounting means.

6. In a device of the character described, counting and offsettingmeans, means for rendering the counting means operative, said meansincluding a tracker roller in the path of the units and operatedthereby, and supplemental means for maintaining the counting means inoperative position, after the tracker roller ceases to control the saidcounting means, said supplemental means including a wedge and a cam,said cam adapted to intrude said Wedge in position toretain the saidcounting means in operative position.

'7. In a device of the character described, counting and offsettingmeans, a ratchet Wheel for operating said means, an oscillating` arm anda ratchet mounted thereon for driving the ratchet wheel, means forimparting equal oscillation to the said arm, and means for impartingunequal angular movement to the said ratchet wheel during the same equaloscillations of the said arm and ratchet. Y

8. In a device of the character described, counting and offsettingmeans, a ratchet Wheel for operating said means, an oscillating arm anda ratchet mounted thereon for driving the ratchet wheel, means forimparting equal oscillations to the said arm, and means for impartingunequal angular movement to the said ratchet wheel during the same equaloscillations of the said arm and ratchet, said last mentioned meansincluding a compound ratchet.

9. In a device of the character described, including a receivingplatform, said platform mounted for vertical reciprocation; offsettingmechanism associated With the platform, and means for operating theoffsetting mechanism during the upward travel of the said platform.

10. In a device ofthe character described, including a receivingplatform',v said platform mounted for vertical reciprocation; offsettingmechanism associated with the platform, said offsetting mechanismarranged to operate during the upward travel of the said platform, saidoffsetting mechanism consisting of shifting wings on opposite sides ofthe said platform and of such vertical height as to insure the properfunctioningl thereof While the platform is travelling.

1l. In a device of the character described, the combination `of astacking table With counting and offsetting mechanism, the countingdevice advancing step by step, in equal increments, until the offsettingcount is reached, and means for increasing that step for prolonging theoperative period of the offsetting mechanism, said offsetting meansvmounted above said table and adapted tobe driven from said countingdevice.

l2. In a device of the character described, including a receivingplatform, said platform mounted for vertical reciprocation, counting andoffsetting means associated therewith, pawl and ratchet means foroperating said counting and offsetting mechanism and means associatedtherewith for stopping the operation of said ratchet wheel when no unitis received on said platform.

13. In a device of the character described for counting units comprisinga support for receiving units, means for feeding the units in a stackupon the support, means for counting the units, means for offsetting aunit to indicate a predetermined number of units in the stack, and meansadapted to render the counting means inoperative When feeding of theunits to the support is interrupted.

lll. In a device of the character described, counting and offsettingmeans, a rotatable device for operating said means, means arranged torotate the rotatable device evenly for each unit to be counted, andmeans for increasing the rotative travel of the rotatable deviceconcomitantly with the operation of the osetting means.

l5. In a device of the character described, counting and offsettingmeans, means arranged to move the counting means evenly for each unit tobe counted, and means for increasing the movement of the counting meansconcomitantly With the operation of the offsetting means.

vSEVERIN HALv'oRsEN.

